The 1993 Super Mario Bros movie is infamous for many reasons. Mostly, we know it because the film is based on a hugely popular video game property, and the resulting movie is so, so bad. It’s also significant because the film was such a miserable experience for everyone involved — most of all the people at Nintendo — that we’ve since been denied films based on some of Nintendo’s other fantastic properties.

So, what exactly went wrong? I found out recently by reading the book Console Wars by Blake J. Harris. The book, which tells the story of the war between Sega and Nintendo in the 1990s, has a chapter dedicated to the film and it’s absolutely fascinating. Names like Dustin Hoffman and Tom Hanks are mentioned. Dozens of screenwriters are discussed. Terrible on-set feuds led to abysmal behavior. It’s all there.

After reading the chapter I thought you, the /Film reader, would find it just as fascinating as I did. So I contacted the publisher HarperCollins and got permission to reprint the chapter on the Super Mario Brosmovie just for you. Read it below.

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The guys behind This is the End are taking on Nintendo. Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg have been tapped to adapt and direct a film based on the new book Console Wars by Blake Harris. The book tells the story of a small, upstart company named Sega and how it took on the juggernaut Nintendo during the late Eighties and early Nineties. Sony will distribute and Scott Rudin will produce. Read More »